The present teachings relate generally to high-frequency radiators and, more particularly, to microstrip patch antennas.
Antennas have been integrated on to silicon wafers. Examples of different classes of doing so include:                1. At GHz frequencies, conventional metal patches and strips with switching diodes have been used;        2. At mm-wave frequencies, deposited metal spirals and tapered-slot antennas with long metal wings have been used;        3. In the THz frequency range, the conventional approach has also used a metal antenna. Problems with metal antennas in the THz band include weak coupling with the on-chip mixer or rectifier; and        4. Recently, Dielectric Resonator Antennas (“DRA”) on silicon have been suggested at 60 GHz and realized at 7.5 GHz.        
At least one problem associated with such antennas is the coupling loss behavior. As the operating frequency approaches the mm-wave and THz range, coupling loss at the interface to conventional antennas becomes more critical, especially when additional components are required for functions such as tuning and impedance matching. Other problems include trying to make an antenna dynamically tunable. As the frequency increases to mm-waves and THz frequencies, the potential antenna tenability becomes vital for proper impedance matching.
What is needed is a better antenna to solve these and other problems.